


time is fickle in the eyes of reality.

by autumnalbranches



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Angst, Blaze Hybrid Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Duck Hybrid Alexis | Quackity, Established Relationship, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Dynamics, Karl Jacobs-centric, Karlnapity, Memory Loss, Multi, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Tales From The SMP, Time Travel, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, inbetween
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29553999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnalbranches/pseuds/autumnalbranches
Summary: “YOU’RE NOT HELPING ME!-” Karl screamed into the unknown of the Inbetween. “YOU ARE THE ONE TAKING THEM AWAY FROM ME, I NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF THIS!” His fists at his sides clawing crescent moons into his palms. “I just want to be with them. Why won’t you let me have that? That’s all I ask for.” Karl was never expecting an answer from the universe until he got one.To put it short time is running thin.(this is about their canon characters, not them as people)
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Alexis| Quackity & Toby Smith | Tubbo, GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs & Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	1. the home that once was.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mrheelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrheelie/gifts).



Groaning, Karl stood up.

“Where am I?” He whispered into the musty air of a library. He fell onto something, leaning upon it to see books filled across shelves; dust collecting upon the ridges and edges of a tall bookcase. The said dust that fell on his fingertips as he brushed all the books, before blowing the dust to fly away and become out of sight. 

A sharp pain passed through his forehead, he groaned at the pain and held his head in his hands. His legs gave out as he slid down the bookcase only to land on the floor; books clattering along with him sounding as if they were taunting him. One landing directly on his head making his head spin even more. 

“Ow, well that hurt,” He said gravely as his head was spinning. Karl tried to stand up only to find himself stumbling over to what seemed to be a table. Grasping the edge of it he tried to keep his balance steady to stand upright. 

He breathed on a four count basis. In for four, out for four. This seemed to calm down the raging pain in his head just enough for him to look up and see posters. All of them, having a theme associated with them. He looked down to see books underneath right beneath his hands; knuckles turning white with the force of his grasp. He released his hands being able to stand without the support needed. He focused back onto the books looking down at them all intently. 

Each one told a different story either from the past, present and one even from the future. Picking up one Karl started to read, he quickly realized that these are his past time travel adventures. With every turn of a page Karl started to remember more and more about himself. After a few books he started to see what was happening. He was trying to save something or someone. ‘How many trips have I taken now?’ He wondered. 

The sharp pains started to come back after remembering who he was. More violent than last time and demanding. It felt as though it was trying to tell him to remember something important, more than his own self. 

Then he saw it, two silhouettes, but he didn’t know who they were. One taller than the other, both held hands and looked back towards him. He could hear them call for him to come over but he could never seem to reach them. 

It seemed as though they were important to him, but he couldn’t remember them.

Silent tears stained his cheeks, he quickly wiped them away with his hoodie sleeves. ‘Why am I crying and where did the pain go?’ He thought again before he heard his name being called out towards the direction of the library. 

“KARL!”

“KARLOS!”

“Alex, he’s not gonna be here let’s try to look somewhere else,”

“Where?! There’s nowhere else! WE HAVE LOOKED EVERYWHERE! Nick, I don’t think we’ll be able to find him,” 

“Cmon now, don’t give up hope. Karl is strong okay? He can’t be too far away.” 

As he started to hear them leave, he walked out the entrance of his library. Something pulled him towards the voices, maybe it was the pain in their tone as they called out for him or maybe something else entirely. He called out to them, their backs acting as a wall between them. The time traveller was unsure on who they are but knew that this is the right choice as he screams out.

“HEY I’M DOWN HERE!”

Karl saw the wall break as they turned their bodys towards him. Both of them ran to him yelling familiar words, until they crash tackled him to the ground. “Oh my god Karl! You had us scared, what did you do that for?” The taller one said, he wore a ribbon in his hair with a symbol of fire resting on his shirt. The time traveller was confused on their clinginess but nonetheless let them touch him.

The other one with a beanie and blue jumper, sat there quietly as he sobbed into Karl’s chest. The time traveller softly slid his beanie off and started to stroke his hair on instinct. ‘Weird’ he thought but didn’t question it more than that.

The other sitting beside him looked at him lovingly, seeming to forget his previous question. Karl looked at these two people not having known them but felt a strong link between them all. It made him want to hold them tight and never let go. The ribbon haired boy’s eyes bored into the time travellers, they seemed to flicker and burn with every look. 

“Hey beautiful, where were you?” He whispered this into Karl’s ear so as to not disturb the snoring hispanic boy underneath him. He flushed at the nickname, until he started to realise the weight of his question. His face then converted to a frown before stating.

“I don’t know,” 

The boy looked towards him confused, “What do you mean you don’t know Karl? It’s not the time to be joking. Can’t you see how stressed we were about you?! I mean Alex just passed out on you!”

“I don’t even know where I am. I don’t know either of you. All I know is my name and that you two make me feel safe,” He said while subconsciously stroking the boy who was resting on his lap’s hair. His soft snores started to fill the awkward silence between them.

That’s when he saw **_his_ ** pyro boy’s eyes started to become glassy, trying to not fill with tears.

Wait. His? He just said to the stranger he doesn’t even know who he is. How could he be ‘his’ when he doesn’t even know-. A sharp pain pulsed through Karl’s head, it felt like his brain was screaming at him. Hissing in pain, he brought his head to his hands once again. Wanting to yell out from the pain, Karl covered his mouth. “Karl what’s wrong?!” The taller boy asked as he saw the time traveller in tremendous pain. The brunette haired boy just pulled in closer to him, trying to relieve himself of the pain he was feeling.

The pain started to subside after a few moments but Karl understood the message the pain was trying to send. It was screaming at him to remember, he just couldn’t seem to know what to remember. He prayed he would find out soon. He then saw the ribbon haired boy open his mouth.

“Karl, you travelled?! I told you to not travel anymore!”

Groggily the boy on Karl’s lap raised up his head, after he had woken up to the loud noises both of them were making. “Guys what’s wrong?” the hispanic spoke with weariness coating his tone as he snuggled into Karl’s chest a bit more, which made the multicoloured boy smile for a reason he was unaware of. The taller boy pushed him more upright to put a hand on his shoulder, to despairingly reply, “Alex, he travelled again and this time he doesn’t remember **us** ,” 

This woke the hispanic boy out of his sleepy trance, as he panickily replied, “What? Sap don’t try to kid me here,”

The arsenic boy sighed and gripped the beanie clad boy’s shoulder tighter. As they stared at each other Karl sat quietly, understanding that these people were definitely important to him one time or another. The way that the taller boy had said ‘us’ had made Karl become sure of the fact.

“Karl, c’mon it’s me! Remember we all decided to become engaged! We’re supposed to get married…” The hispanic lowered his voice the more he realised that Karl truly had no idea of what he was talking about. His fiance had truly forgotten the both of them, his heart clenched at the thought. The time traveller smiled sadly at the both of them.

“I’m really sorry, I can’t remember you both. I know you were important to me, I can just feel it. It’s like something is coursing through my veins begging me to just be near you two. I want to remember you both,” Karl states, as tears fell down his cheeks. The ribbon-haired boy brought a hand to his face and gently wiped the tears with his finger from the multicolored boy’s eyes.

The brown eyed boy looked down towards the ground, his anger built as he pushed away from the time traveller, and stood up, “Nick how can you be okay with this?! He said he wouldn’t forget! HE PROMISED US!” The beanie clad boy spoke in outrage, his fists tightening and his lip harshly bit, eyes still puffy from his previous sobbing. 

The ribbon haired boy stood up and looked down at the boy with red puffy eyes of his own and a face painted harsh red. “YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW?! Alex, this isn’t the time to be angry with him. He doesn’t even remember himself probably! Can’t you see I’m as scared and as worried about this situation as you are?!” He spoke with a tone of worry and anger. The hispanic boy pulled further away from the pair.

“No, I don’t Sapnap! He promised us! How could you just let go of that?!” The hispanic replied to him filled with rage and hurt. He looked at them both: Karl chewing his lip, a nervous habit of his he had developed over time, the ribbon-haired boy, with tears that started to build up in his eyes as he looked towards fiance with a wistful look. His hands shook before turning his back and running. Running away from the two he loved most in the world.

The beanie wearing boy had yet created another wall between all of them.

“ALEX!”

\---

“Sorry about Alex, sometimes he just gets too much into his emotions and bursts,” the arsenic boy explained using his hands to simulate an explosion. The time traveller laughed at this and ran up to keep on the same pace as the other boy.

“I know it might be weird of me asking this, but what is your name? I believe the other boy is Alex and you’re Nick?” Karl asked, confused. The ribbon-haired boy stopped before turning around and facing with a forlorn expression. 

“Kind of? Quackity is our other third you could say but I’m Sapnap,” He said with a laugh. This calmed Karl’s nerves knowing the names of his supposed fiances, however it didn’t stop him from still being upset with the earlier confrontation at the ruins of Party Island in L’Manburg. _‘Hold on. L’Manberg? Party Island? How did I know that?’_ He thought to himself as he found comfort and excitement of the prospect of his mind coming back to him. It may have just been a place but he had remembered something and that was good enough for him now.

As they slowly walked down an oak wooden path; structures on both sides, Karl looked over to Sapnap. He could feel the other boy’s detriment from where he was standing. He also knew that the ribbon-haired boy was hurt or even more hurt by his disappearance of memories than even the hispanic boy. As they continued down the path Karl hadn’t even realised that they had stopped until Sapnap pulled him from his thoughts.

“Jacobs? Karllll? You there?” The younger boy questioned the other one. 

“Huh?”

“I said we’re here, you’re home now,”

Karl looked up to see a house, just an ordinary house. He might have been expecting more but this was perfectly what he had actually wanted. 

“Well you going to come in?” Sapnap asked, leaning off the front door frame of _their_ house.

“Uhh, I think so,” Karl said as he walked into the home that once was.

As he walked into the entrance of the house, he looked to the walls with photos displayed everywhere. Running his hand on the glass of the frame; separating him from the photo, Sapnap chuckled from behind him. This action accidentally startled Karl, with him jumping back. The brown-haired boy moved around Karl to shut the front door. “The photos? Makes sense why you're so enthralled by them, they were your idea after all,” Sapnap easily replied to the unsaid questions of the other boy. The time traveller pushed forwards, putting a hand on the glass once again trying to feel something; anything. But nothing came, his mind completely blank of memories. All he knew of them was that he was theirs and they were his. 

That fact was starting to not feel enough for Karl, but he would never tell Sapnap that. 

“Hey Sapnap?”

“Yes Jacobs?”

Karl sighed, “I know that I hurt you both a lot. Touching those photos, even looking at those photos I felt nothing. No emotional attachment to them at all. I really want to remember but it got me thinking... Sapnap, I want to make new memories too. I know my old ones are important and it makes me feel horrible to think about how much I must have hurt you guys not remembering both of you, or anything really. But I’m here now and I want to think that’s all that matters,” Karl said as he laughed a little, the nerves getting to him a bit too much. He didn't need to see Sapnap’s face to understand what the other was feeling in the current moment. 

Because he had seen it before.

Karl didn’t rest on that thought for too long, he didn’t want to. He knew if he did he would be stuck in a cycle; a never ending cycle. 

\---

“Sapnap, would you mind giving me a tour? I mean since I don’t really know my way around,” The multicoloured boy spoke a nervous laugh caught on the end of his request. This made Sapnap take a step back before composing himself. 

“Of course Karl, c’mon I’ll show you around,” The ribbon-haired boy said with a smile as he directed the grey-eyed boy towards the next rooms. 

Every room Karl passed through felt more and more like home or at least the idea of what home is. He knew that this was his home, but it was like a barrier was between him and Sapnap. The arsenic boy tried to hide his emotions through a mask of sorts, but the time traveller knew that it was fake. “And this is our sort of bedroom,” Sapnap said as he opened the door to their room. As he peered in, Karl expected to feel something: the mind numbing pain again or swelling in his heart, but he felt... nothing? ‘What? I surely thought that this would bring back some of my memories! Even just a little amount of them…’ He thought, this is when he knew that he was tremendously naive, to think his memories were going to come back so easily.

“What do you mean sort of?” The time traveller spoke, trying to pull his mind off the subject of regaining his memories. He didn’t want to think about getting his memories back anymore.

Sapnap started to scratch the back of his head as he started to speak.

“Well it does get pretty crowded with all three of us, so there’s another bedroom. I mean sometimes it feels better to have your own bed too y’know?” Karl nodded, that did seem to make sense. 

Quackity. 

Karl had totally forgotten about him until Sapnap mentioned him, it had totally been off his mind since coming back to their house. “Sapnap?” Karl softly spoke.

“Hm yes Karl?” 

“Where do you think Quackity is? I’m really worried about him. I mean I am engaged to him as well,” Karl quickly responded. The ribbon-haired boy looked up to Karl. He couldn’t stay away from him any longer, he can’t anymore. Sapnap walked over to pull the multicoloured boy into a hug, which he pulled out of. The heartbreak on the ribbon-haired boy’s face was enough for Karl to want to pull him into a hug again, but he knew he couldn’t. 

He didn’t know Sapnap.

“Sapnap don’t take this the wrong way, however, the old Karl may have wanted a hug from you, but I’m the new Karl now,” Karl took a breath looking into the wistfully loud eyes of his supposed lover, “And I don’t know if I feel okay with you just randomly doing things such as hugs and kisses. Like I said before, I want to make my own memories and one of those things is creating a connection with you and Quackity again. So I’d like it better if you asked silently or not for my consent. Okay?” 

Sapnap nodded, as his eyes cast towards the floor. 

After a few moments of awkward silence, Sapnap looked up to Karl, his eyes swirling with emotion, “I understand that, and I will respect your wishes. But Karl I can’t keep this up,” The knight stated, turning his face away from Karl, tears filling his eyes. His face grew a blotchy red with every tear that passed down his cheek. “I fucking missed you so much, but I want to yell at you for being so stupid to travel back again in the first place. I want to just hate you so much for leaving both of us like that but I can’t. That’s because I’m so inevitably in love with you, but you can’t even remember me now. You don’t even remember travelling back in the first place. I love you so much Karl and I know that doesn’t mean too much to you now, but it does to me.” Sapnap looked directly into Karls eyes. Tears still falling down he sniffled, “I made that promise to you. I know you won’t remember it, but I do. I won’t break that ever okay?” 

Karl nodded, not exactly understanding what he had just agreed with. Sapnap put his hands on the time travellers shoulders, eyes seeking permission from Karl to keep them there. The multi-coloured boy smiled slightly, letting the other boy know it was okay. “I’m thinking it’s best if you lived with someone else for now. I don’t know who yet but someone I know we- I trust. Don’t take it the wrong way but I just want to have some time to think about this.” The arsenic boy said, squeezing Karl’s shoulders in reassurance. The time traveller understood the boy’s reservations about him coming back into his house and hence was completely fine with the idea.

So why did it hurt so much?

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone who has supported me on my journey with writing my first chapter! hopefully you guys will stick around for the journey of this fic (:  
> any feedback is highly appreciated!
> 
> @autumnalbranch on twitter for updates and random thoughts (:


	2. maybe it's for the best.

Karl awoke in a smaller bedroom. 

After last night's confessions Sapnap had shown him to the extra room. He groaned as he sat up from the comfy spot he had made for himself. Chewing on his bottom lip he looked around at the red and white walls, memories plastered upon them that weren’t his anymore. 

Although what he said to Sapnap last night was true it still didn’t stop him from being heavy-hearted about his life before. 

His mind may have not remembered but his heart did.

The red and white walls were apparently based on Karl’s idea from what Sapnap had said. He had stated that the time traveller loved mushrooms and thought there should be at least something reminiscent of them. The ribbon-haired boy was right though. The wall's colouring does seem like something he’d pick. He yawned as he stood from the bed, stretching his arms high in the air as he turned towards the door; hearing it slowly start to open.

“Hey, how are you this morning?” Sapnap said with a tired smile and a gravely morning voice, his face pulled into a lopsided grin. It felt as though the time traveller's heart had just skipped a beat, flushing at his thoughts as he looked toward the clueless black-eyed boy standing in the doorframe. “I-I’m good,” Karl shakily said as he mentally berated himself for the stumbling of his words. The other boy chuckled as he gestured over to something outside the room. “I’ve got breakfast cooking. You can head down when you’re ready, I just wanted to see if you were awake otherwise I would have woken you up,” He said with a smile as the multicoloured boy nodded. 

Sapnap slowly shut the door as he went downstairs humming a tune. 

Karl held a hand over his heart, it was beating rapidly. It confused the time traveller to no end but nonetheless he took time to calm himself down. He didn’t let the thoughts of him having a tiny crush on Sapnap pass through his mind any further.

After standing there for a couple of minutes and collecting himself Karl went to get dressed. Sapnap had washed his hoodie from yesterday and had handed it back to him later that night. Slipping it over his head Karl readjusted the hoodie to make it more comfortable. Looking at himself in a mirror the time traveller smiled, satisfied with his appearance Karl let his nose guide him towards breakfast.

Walking down the stairs Karl walked over to see a english breakfast laid out for him and Sapnap on the dining room table. “Sapnap?” Karl called out, curious about the other boy’s whereabouts.

“I’m coming, just hold on!” Sapnap called back, only to be moments later walking out holding two glasses, one with milk and the other with orange juice. Without hesitation Karl picks up the glass with orange juice and takes a sip. “This is gonna be harder than I thought,” Sapnap mumbled as he picked up his milk and took a taste of it. 

“Huh? What’s going to be harder?” Karl said while eating a piece of bacon from the side of his plate. Sapnap just smiled with a little laugh.

“Nothing, don’t worry Jacobs,”

\---

“All ready to go?” Sapnap called out from downstairs.

“Yeah I’m all good I’ll be down in a minute,” Karl replied back, loud enough for Sapnap to hear him. He was moving out of Sapnap’s house and into someone else's. The whole prospect made Karl nervous but he knew it was for the better good. He hadn’t asked the ribbon-haired boy where he was staying but Karl assumed he would tell him on the way. He ran down the steps with a bag slung across his body. Sapnap smiled up towards him, opening the door for Karl to walk through with his heavy baggage. “You got everything before we leave?” Sapnap asked to make sure

“Yes, what are you my dad or something?”.Karl shot at the arsenic boy, turning around to see the look on the other boy’s face. He giggled as he walked backwards down the oak wooden path. 

“I can be your daddy if you want~” Sapnap shot back, laughing at the incredulous look on the other boy’s face. Karl walked forward to lightly hit him on the arm as the ribbon-haired boy shook with laughter. That did make Karl smile, he hadn’t seen the other boy laugh like that since he had met him. “So! Whose house are you shipping me off too?” Karl joked as he looked up to Sapnap. The other boy sighed happily.

“I’m sending you to my dad’s. He’s about the only person I trust with you at the moment, don’t worry you liked him. You guys were good friends, his name’s BadBoyHalo but everyone calls him Bad.” Sapnap stated as they keep walking down the oak wooden pathway. Karl thought he sounded like a really nice person and wasn’t so nervous to meet him. I mean they had been friends before, they could be friends again right? 

As they continued down the path Karl could spot a building in the horizon. The whole thing was made entirely out of quartz giving it a modern look, it contrasted the other boy’s house which Karl silently laughed at; He didn’t know why though.

Sapnap stopped and looked at the building with a sad smile. “C’mon this is the place, time to meet my dad again.” He sighed as they briskly walked towards the mansion. The more they walked the more Karl felt his nerves start to come back in. His lip harshly placed between his teeth; bitten raw. 

The ribbon-haired boy pushed the doors to his old house open. “BAD! I’m here!” He called out to his dad. “Hold on Sappy. I’ll be down in just a minute!” Karl assumed it was Bad who replied back to Sapnap. 

“What’s this new nickname? Sappy~” Karl said teasily, loving to see the other boy light into a flame. 

“SHUT UP KARL!” The arsenic boy replied back embarrassingly, hiding his face away from the others' view. The time traveller laughed until he heard a voice behind him.

“What’s with all the laughing?” Karl turned to see a tall looming figure, he jumped back in fear. 

“DON'T KILL ME!” The multi-coloured boy said as he waved his arms around trying to ward off the huge creature. He continued to yell things at it until he heard a voice. “Karl- KARL!” Sapnap yelled at him, helping to snap Karl out of his trance. “The thing you’re screaming at is my dad..” 

The time travellers face flushed a bright red, out of embarrassment. ‘That was the worst introduction ever!’ Karl thought to himself as he put out a hand to shake with the other man. Looking more closely Karl realised how tall Sapnap’s dad really is, ‘He must be at least 9 feet tall.’ As the thought passed through Karl’s mind he looked over to see two horns and Bad’s eyes and mouth a totally white void. Karls hand lifted to his face in shock, “You’re a demon?!” The time traveller had blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Yep! I sure am, I’m Bad by the way and don’t worry too much about your reaction. I get it alot!” The demon said with a laugh before turning towards his son, arms open for a hug. Sapnap hesitated before running into his father’s hug, a single tear slipping from his eye. Bad mumbled something into his ear as Karl just stood and watched. 

It felt as if he was intruding on something important. He stayed, seeming as though he didn’t know where to go.

Bad eventually pulled away from the hug, setting his hands on his son’s shoulders. His face turned towards Karl looking down at his bags. “OH YES! I forgot about you staying here! I fixed up a guest bedroom for you. It should be upstairs; first door on your left.” The taller man said as he directed Karl towards the stairs.

As he walked up the stairs of the mansion he heard muffled voices, familiar names were said and his name also was being brought up. He didn’t want to intrude on their conversion, even if they were talking about him. Without another thought he quickly ran up the stairs and into the bedroom on his left. 

The room itself was plain but comfortable with a queen bed and two bedside tables. A desk was sitting in the corner of the room. Writing essentials lying across the stone surface, he set his bag down on the bed taking in every detail. Lying down on the bed he looked up to the ceiling. 

He kept trying to take in the situation he was now in, he wanted to believe this was for the best. “What the fuck am I even doing?” Blinking away tears as he laughed. 

‘What else could I do?’ Karl thought as he wiped away his shallow tears.

\---

Karl had said his goodbyes to Sapnap, after a dinner Bad had prepared. “Hey, if you want to come back or you’re uncomfortable here, call me. Okay?” The arsenic boy had said as he waved goodbye to his fiance. Karl’s heart dropped a little bit watching the other boy walk away, it felt somewhat raw and familiar. He couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to scream out for Sapnap to come back, because he knew he would; without hesitation he would. He held the urge in and just waved back at the boy.

After Sapnap had left, the time traveller stood back and took in the situation. He was now stuck with a 9 foot and a bit tall demon in a mansion that the said demon had made his home. This had created some feelings of resent towards the ribbon-haired boy. Karl felt like Sapnap had treated him as if he were a child, this made the multi-coloured boy mad. The other boy had essentially pawned him off to another person; a stranger at that. ‘How couldn’t I be mad?’ He thought as he walked down the hallway.

Stood in the hallway Karl came to an even sadder realisation that this was a last resort for Sapnap. That this was the last thing the other boy could think off for Karl, so that he could be safe; from what the time traveller wasn’t too sure of yet. Now that he understood the arsenic boy’s actions now his anger did lessen a little bit. 

Another realisation came to him, he had to tackle this missing relationship with Bad. He was well, is his future father-inlaw so he has to make some effort to remember him. He walked back into the dining room, “Do you want some help in cleaning up?” Karl asked sincerely, he’d feel upset if he left Bad to clean up all by himself. 

“That’d be great, thank you Karl,” Bad said as he picked up a plate heading towards the kitchen. Karl carefully picked up the rest of the plates and cups from the table and followed the taller one. He set them next to the other dirty plates and saw the demon start to wash them. He leaned against the counter, hands pushing back against it. “Do you need any help with washing them up?” He quietly said. The time traveller awaited a response, but all he got was a shake of the other man’s head. They sat there in silence, the multi-coloured boy knew somewhere in his mind that Bad was giving him the opportunity to talk. He didn’t want to take it at first, he didn’t even know the man but eventually he gave in. He had to tell him what was on his mind, the time traveller thought that Bad may be the only person he could talk to at the moment.

“Bad, I’m so sorry,” Karl said, his hands now at his sides shaking. He told himself he could do this; he had to do this.

“What for Karl?” Bad said sympathetically, dropping his plate into the sink. Karl watched it as it fell through the soapy water. The time traveller balled up his fists trying to push the words out his clogged throat.

“I’m sorry for not remembering you. I’m sorry for coming in and just uphauling your life. I’m just sorry, not just to you but everyone,” Karl said with a choke in his voice. The multi-coloured boy’s throat stung with the weight of his words. He truly was so sorry to everyone for forgetting, sometimes it felt like they didn’t understand how sorry he was. Bad sat patiently and watched as Karl trembled.

“Karl, are you okay?” 

Karl moved off the counter and into Bad's arms holding onto him tightly as he sobbed loudly. The time traveller felt as the demon started to pet his hair and whispered soothing things into Karl’s ear. The multi-coloured boy let out everything he had been feeling the last past days into Bad’s warm and loving arms. He started coughing, as he cried more and more. It died down as Karl became more calm. Bad shushing him lovingly, trying to calm him down. 

As he started to come down he pulled himself slowly off Bad to propose him a question. His hair messed around, baby hairs sticking out. His eyes were wide and puffy, his lashes accentuating the colour of his irises. “Bad?”

“Yes Karl?”

“Is it bad that I don’t know if I truly want my old memories back anymore?” Karl said, quiet as a mouse. He could hear the other man sigh, the time traveller set himself up for disappointment.

“Oh Karl-.” The demon hesitated for a moment before continuing. “-I believe that whatever you do will be best. I just want to know why you don’t want your old memories back?” Bad questioned, he was truly curious. The time traveller was completely unaware of the ulterior motive of the taller one. Bad had seen Karl a couple days before his memory loss and the boy had said some interesting things. Bad wanted to see what they had truly meant. Maybe they could be the key to save Skeppy.

“I know that they’re important for everyone else; my memories and that they are important to me. But I have a feeling they’ll bring me so much pain. Everytime I remember something or am on the verge of remembering, all I feel is pain. I just want it to stop Bad. Oh god how badly I want it to stop,” Karl said with eyes still puffy staring up at Bad’s equally as sad expression. The time traveller couldn’t stop himself from telling the demon about his pains. He hadn’t told Sapnap to not worry him, he so badly wanted some reassurance but he knew that the ribbon-haired boy had enough on his plate as it was. He didn’t need anymore of Karl’s problems in the mix. Karl awaited Bad’s response. He knew that he was about to break, to let all of his fears out onto someone. He didn’t expect it to be Bad. A stranger to him now, but he knew he was a friend before; a good friend at that.

“Karl... you have to push through that pain. Your past self would have wanted you to have at least tried your hardest.” He said as he gave the other boy a smile. “-You have to remember Karl, pain doesn’t last forever. Neither do your memories Karl, you’ll need to get them back soon or I'm afraid they might start to fade away.” Bad stated with a sigh, rubbing Karl’s shoulder in reassurance. “They’ll fade away?” Karl panicked, his voice trembling with worry.

“I don’t know but I’m afraid they might. Memories can’t last forever, an example would be like trying to remember random numbers from three days ago. They just fade into the back of your mind with time right?” The demon explained to the time traveller who nodded. ‘This does make sense.’ Karl thought as he looked up into Bad’s eyes.

“Thank you Bad. Thank you so much,” Karl said with sincerity and with a tear trailing down his already ruined face. 

Lifting his head up, the time traveller looked up towards a clock, it read 12:24am. He didn’t want to keep the demon up any longer than he already had. “I’m gonna head to bed now,” Karl said with a croaky laugh, Bad just smiled at him and gave the time traveller a quiet goodnight before getting back to his dishes. The multi-coloured boy walked towards the stairs, going directly to his temporary bedroom. 

His head finally felt quiet as he paced over to the bed, sitting on it. ‘I’m going to be okay now,’ He thought as he laid his head against the soft pillow. Maybe it’s for the best that Karl fell into a deep and quiet sleep; albeit missing two people more than he should.

\---

Waking up to yelling, wasn’t the thing that Karl was expecting. 

He could hear two voices from the sounds of it, one of them was Bad. The other sounded familiar but was two quiet to tell who it was. He hopped out his bed, walking towards the door as silently as possible. The door was open and shut in relative silence as he walked closer to the stairs the voices got loud enough he could make out what they were saying. 

-what did you want me to do?! JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE?! You didn’t see his face, it broke me. We didn’t deserve this! Neither did Karl!” The voice he now identified as Sapnap said with anger behind all of his words.

“I TOLD YOU THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NICK! That’s what Quackity does! He leaves when things get too hard. Didn’t we go through this last time?! You remember it don’t you?!-” Bad replied back equally if not more so angier than Sapnap. That’s all Karl heard before he felt the pain in his head, falling to the floor the pain so unbearable. He groaned in pain, luckily not loud enough for Bad and Sapnap to hear him. He nearly walked away, the pain became too much until he remembered the demon’s words from last night,  _ ‘Pain doesn’t last forever, neither do your memories Karl’.  _ With that he pushed himself to remember, the pain making his hands etch moons into his palms. 

Until there was no pain, only a voice; a memory. Or atleast the start of one, he saw everything through his own eyes. Again.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the support on the first chapter! hopefully you guys stick around with this chapter now out (:  
> any feedback or thoughts are always appreciated!
> 
> @autumnalbranch on twitter


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